Some questions about making wood-bodied planes

[Luke Hospadaruk]

I'm thinking about replacing some of my smaller planes (a block plane and a late-model #4) with something a little nicer. They work fine, but my copies dull pretty fast and always seem to be coming unscrewed in every way that a plane can come unscrewed.

Mostly I just need a new project.

With that out of the way - I'd really like to build myself some wood-bodied planes of similar sizes to replace (or live alongside) my current junkers.

I'm wondering:

What wood species would be a good choice? I'd like to get something locally (michigan) as I'm not terribly hip on exotic hardwoods.
I could easily lay hands on Hard Maple, Red or White Oak, Walnut, Cherry.
I could probably get (with perhaps more difficulty/expense) Osage Orange, Hornbeam, Black Locust.

I'd prefer not to use a separate wood for the sole. If I was going to do that I'd probably just buy enough for the whole deal (It's just two little planes after all)

Should I treat the wood in any special way? I seem to recall some more out-there sounding descriptions of soaking wood plane bodies in linseed oil until they had absorbed as much as they could.

What kind of glue is preferred? I'm sure it depends on wood species, but generally speaking - PU? Titebond-ish? epoxy?

Anything I didn't think of? I've never used/owned a wood-bodied plane before (part of the reason I want to make some).

As for specific designs/plans, I've seen plenty floating around so I suspect I can find something that fits my needs/abilities.

[David Weaver]

You are looking to make a plane that is laminated, correct? One that you glue together? You can use anything.

Walnut and cherry won't wear well (and aren't very dense) and white oak or red wouldn't be me choice (though they'd work). I'd want something with no pores. That'd leave hard maple as a good choice from common woods and I'd probably stick with hornbeam from the others. I don't get jollies out of how splintery osage orange is. Black locust is better for fenceposts (it's super great fantastic for them, actually).

That leaves maple and hornbeam. I'd choose maple

Titebond would be fine.

[Bryan Ericson]

I'll second the maple recommendation. I read once on a flooring website that maple has good abrasion resistance, which seems like something you'd want in a plane. In my own experience, it works just fine.

There are some here who claim that the use of glue prevents moisture from equalizing within the wood, leading to warping. Others who have made laminated planes have reported no problems. It may depend on whether your shop has some sort of environmental controls. My shop is in my basement with a dehumidifier, and I've had no issues at all.

[Zach Dillinger]

Maple is ideal. I have used it several times myself. My next plane will be made of yellow birch.

What part of Michigan are you from?

[David Weaver]

I never finished my thought. Titebond would be fine. Liquid hide glue would allow you to steam the plane apart later and reglue it, though with titebond if your glue surfaces are straight and clean, you can always sand or plane it off to bare wood later if you need to reglue.

[Brian Kent]

I agree with the Maple and the Titebond.
…and the book - http://www.davidfinck.com/book.htm

[Jim Matthews]

I recommend Ron Hock's kits.

After making one of his, you could consider emulating the design,
with your choice of materials. Still, I like simple and following the directions is that.

[Luke Hospadaruk]

Sounds like maple it is!

Yeah, we are talking laminated plane.

I'll look into the hock kit, I'll probably end up with a hock (or maybe veritas?) iron anyways.

About wood block planes in particular - are they usually bevel down? The ones I've seen would seem to have too high a bed angle to be bevel up.

Thanks again!

[Brian Kent]

Bevel down.

[Luke Hospadaruk]

More questions:

It seems like any kind of finish or polish anywhere but the sole would be sort of counter-productive for grip reasons (aside from making it look pretty, which I can certainly appreciate). Maybe linseed oil on the sole and bare everywhere else (or just a light oiling)? I suppose this is mostly personal preference.

Is the pin usually some manner of hardwood?

I've seen a couple pictures of block planes, some of them appear to be without a cap iron, others I can't tell. Are block planes (bevel down wooden ones) typically without a cap iron? Is there a reason for this other than size?

[Mark Baldwin III]

+1 on Brian's recommendation of Finck's book.
The finish I've put on my planes has typically been BLO and wax. I have rubbed shellac onto one or two before the wax. I like the way that combination feels in my hand. YMMV.
Cap iron vs. no cap iron? I have woodies with both. Three of them are single irons, pretty much because I like to make my own irons and it's easier to make a single iron. It comes down to personal preference.

[george wilson]

I learned in the early 70's from old Mr. Simms,the English furniture conservator at Williamsburg,to clamp the plane,without blade,down to a flat piece of sacrificial wood(it will get oil soaked). Stop up the bottom of the plane's mouth with window putty,and fill the escapement with raw linseed oil. This will need repeating as often as necessary while the oil bleeds clear through the body from front to rear. It will keep moisture out,add a permanent lubrication,and increase the mass of the wood. This i have done to 2 foot long beechwood planes(the traditional wood) and have had it bleed clear through both ends. I don't know if maple,which is a denser wood,would bleed this far,but a smoother should saturate just fine. Be sure to use RAW oil. You don't want it drying before it penetrates the whole plane.

P.S.: I was assuming you were making a ONE piece plane,like the old ones,with the escapement chiseled out from the solid. If you are gluing up a plane,the oil will not pass the glue lines.

I was the toolmaker for Williamsburg and am retired. We made MANY wooden planes for all the craftsmen in the Historic Area,plus a great variety of other tools for all the different trades,from looms to amputating knives to guns for the militia.

[David Keller NC]

Luke: A few other considerations. One typically makes wooden-bodied planes from wood that is oriented as quarter-sawn. In other words, if you look at the front of the plane, the annual rings are oriented side-to-side rather than up & down. This typically means that you want to use at least 12/4 (i.e., 3" thick). That is sometimes difficult for people to come by, but if you happen to have some nice, dry maple firewood, that'll definitely work to make a plane blank out of.

The preference for a two-piece iron and cap-iron (e.g., could also be called "iron and chipbreaker") is just that - a preference. Presuming that you make your plane with a tight mouth and a high pitch angle (50 degrees would be a good compromise), you can expect to get good performance out of a single-iron plane. For a beginner, it's usually easier to use a single iron since this makes cutting and fitting the wedge easier.

You're correct - a bevel-up wooden plane would be quite unusual. The reason is that the plane wouldn't be very durable if it used the typical bed angle on a bevel-up metal plane: 12 degrees. If one made the bed angle on the wooden plane the more normal 30 degree minimum, an average blade would wind up with a 60 degree cutting pitch. While it will work, that's quite high and will be difficult to push.

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

David Fink's book is great, but be aware it is very much targeted toward power tool owners. If you're like me and don't have a band saw, jointer and table saw you'll have to take some different approaches than what he covers. The book is still very worthwhile. Starting with a Hock kit would avoid all this, so you do have options.

I made a 24" long try plane from his book around a Hock blade without power tools other than borrowed time on a drill press. I worked from the David Fink book and the plans from Hock (good but not necessary) and I can remember the following changes off the top of my head:

He has you use a band saw to cut the sides off the center of the blank and in book providing lots of detail only says you can clean up the cuts if you like with hand planes, otherwise they'll still work fine but the glue lines might show. When making these cuts by hand I most certainly had to use a hand plane. Others, with more experience and better saws might have been fine without.

In my case I had only a nasty brand new Stanley no 5 with plastic totes* and a small Japanese plane. I took the blade from the Japanese plane and laminated some BORG maple for the body and a couple pieces of 1/4" oak for the sides and made a long ugly thing in about an hour. It took another few hours to flatten the bottom with sandpaper on marble and get the blade to stay reasonably well, but it worked and was long enough to really flatten the pieces for the "real" plane I was making.

I also had to really work to make sure the cuts for the mouth were very true. I used the Japanese plane and a card scraper. Flattening the sole took some time using the long ugly thin plane-like-object followed by sandpaper on marble, but it worked.

I did use a drill press for the pin. I drilled the holes for the dowel I used for the ugly one by hand and though I was as accurate as I could be it caused problems. Using just a dowel instead of a pin with a flat side also caused problems, so I won't repeat that again. The pin in the large plane is traditional.

I would absolutely get Hock blades again. I would also start with a smaller plane next time, and I'd make a mockup of any large ones in cheap lumber to see what is comfortable. That long heavy plane is tiring to hold, would probably make one that size razee shaped if I did it over. It works fantastically, though, and made me realize I can make many of my own tools. I actually think I learned some important things by making that first quick one: most importantly I learned to go ahead and try. Not being too invested in the outcome freed me to make mistakes, which freed me to actually try to succeed.

By all means try it.


Here are the planes I mentioned, I still have some shaping to do as I try to figure out how to make it more comfortable:

planes.jpg

*That stanley no 5.... I found it on the sidewalk in a box marked "FREE!" - as evidenced by the paint and wood chips (not shavings!) jammed in it someone had purchased it, tried to use it as is out of box, and gave up. Blade wasn't sharpened, sole was far from flat, mouth not quite perpendicular to sides, frog rocked all over the place... NOT quality at all. Probably went and spend hundreds on powertools or simply gave up on their long held heartfelt but secret desire to learn woodworking. Luckily for me I'd used nicely fettled planes in junior high so I knew what it should feel like, and had already managed to make a no brand hardware store spoke shave work. Days of work later I had a scrub plane. Doubt it could ever be a finer tool, at least in my hands, but it's getting lots of use flattening my bench top.

[Luke Hospadaruk]

George -
How long does it usually take to saturate a plane (depends on size I imagine, but let's say for a smoother of average length)? Do you ever thin the linseed oil at all (with turpentine perhaps)? Maybe it would help penetrate the denser wood (or maybe that just not needed).

David -
Sounds like you're describing flat grain on the sole and edge grain on the sides, or do I have that backwards?

Fitzhugh -
I do have a bandsaw and a radial arm saw. I'll be damned if I can get a straight cut out of the bandsaw, so I'll probably rip the sides on the radial arm saw (which I can actually get a pretty good cut out of if I'm careful to set it up). In all likelihood the angles for the escapement will be cut on the radial arm as well since I'm without any sort of miter saw, powered or otherwise. I'm thinking about picking up a powered miter saw. Seems to me there are some that are pretty affordable that would probably be more accurate and quick to set up than the radial arm. Offtopic, anyways, the side rips and escapement cuts will be done under power, flattening the bottom will be done with the planes on hand and some sandpaper on my granite block.

Is there any particular need to have the sides perfectly squared off in relation to the sole (assuming the sole is flat and the bed/mouth isn't skewed)? I would think this wouldn't terribly matter unless it was some kind of dado/rabbet plane.